I'm probably right if I say that you've ever visited a website to do "simple" things like buy tickets, complete some administrative procedures or check your bills. Is it possible that this process was so complicated, expensive and extremely frustrating that you list of antarctica consumer email could have turned into the Incredible Hulk in the blink of an eye?
Don't worry, it's not your fault. It's the fault of web usability. Bad usability, in this case.
You don't need to take a course to update your technological skills, or ask your younger relative for help, as we once did when we had to help our elders learn to use smartphones. You need to understand a concept that those responsible for designing these websites didn't take into account: good web usability is essential .
Digesting the digital transformation
The constant digital transformation we are experiencing means that the demand and supply of digital products is growing year after year. Users' experience and knowledge is greater, but so is their demand. That is why it is essential that the design and usability of a website is planned and oriented to facilitate user interaction .
At this point in the journey, concepts such as responsive or mobile first are starting to become quite integrated into the collective vocabulary. Hearing phrases such as “Available for tablet and mobile” or “On all your devices” is already part of our daily bread. This new terminology is here to stay, but it did not come alone.
Everything changes very quickly. It's easy to feel like an astronaut on a reconnaissance mission every time a new digital trend or technology appears. Have you said hello to the Metaverse yet? The digital universe is expanding and companies dedicated to generating digital solutions have to achieve web usability that generates interaction as easy as possible.
The data speak for themselves: according to a recent INE survey of the population aged 16 to 74, 93.9% had used the Internet in the last three months, 55.2% had made purchases online in the last three months, and 17.6% of employed people aged 16 to 74 had worked remotely during the week prior to the interview.
What is web usability
We won't go into technicalities. When we talk about digital products, digital usability refers to how a person interacts with a website, app, program, etc., to achieve a specific objective.
To define the usability of a digital product, we could create a master recipe with the following principles of web usability:
A good basic functional overview : how the process is designed. Good usability should simplify a process as much as possible. Reduce the number of “clicks” required and, above all, not make the user think :
It makes a complex process easy, guiding in a fluid manner.
It makes it easy to find everything you need. It takes into account all the usual cases and prioritizes their execution.
Graphic design is used to facilitate navigation through the interface . How things are perceived is very important. There is no point in placing elements if they do not look good, are confusing or do not help to identify things. An example: thanks to typographic hierarchies and the use of color and white space, you can speed up reading and visually guide the user.
If you offer a good user experience, they will want to repeat it . There is good usability, bad usability and very bad usability. We can generate many feelings: satisfaction, security, frustration…
With the design and usability of a website you make it easy for your users
How to assess usability on the web
In fact, as consumers, we are constantly testing usability and user experience . It is something we do unconsciously on an ongoing basis because we are constantly in contact with technology. We are very clear about which website we like to buy from, which movie or series platform makes it easier for us, or which online procedure brings out the worst in us just by thinking about having to do it.
I propose an experiment to measure the usability of a website: set yourself a goal (if you have a website, hit it where it hurts the most), such as: placing an order or requesting information about a product. Try to achieve the goal and ask yourself some simple questions at the end of the whole process:
Have I achieved my goal?
How long did it take me?
Does the time I have invested in carrying out the process seem to me: very slow / slow / fast / very fast?
Has my user experience been positive or negative?
Would you change anything?
By honestly answering these five questions, you will have an overview of the current state of your site's usability.
Good things, if they are easy, are twice as good
Even the smartest users like things to be made easy for them. Nobody likes to be made to waste time, feel like they have to do some juggling to get something done, or feel unsafe when dealing with processes related to financial transactions.
Make your users happy and make the difficult easy. Which ironically is the hardest thing.
It requires defining an information architecture appropriate for each target and objective, creating agile and simple web navigation, promoting easy access to information through a user-centered web design that, at the same time, is capable of transmitting specific values. It requires a great capacity for analysis and a global vision of processes.
At Industrial Branding we create all kinds of digital products for the industrial sector and we know that this is the point that is usually the most complex for you. We can help you create experiences designed for your buyer persona and ensure that your digital products achieve their objectives.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions regarding.
